OXFAM covered up its staff’s use of prostitutes, pornography and allegations of bullying and intimidation, according to a national newspaper.

The Times said Oxford-based Oxfam allowed three men to resign and sacked four others for gross misconduct following investigations into behaviour in Haiti.

The staff were based in the country’s capital Port-au-Prince in 2010 after a huge earthquake which killed 220,000 people and left a further 1.5m homeless.

The Times said one of the men allowed to resign was the charity’s country director Roland van Hauwermeiren. A report seen by the newspaper found he had admitted using prostitutes at the villa rented for him by Oxfam.

Oxfam receives £300m a year in British government funds and donations.

In a statement on the charity's website, Oxfam said: "This behaviour was totally unacceptable, contrary to our values and the high standards we expect of our staff. As soon as we became aware of the allegations we immediately launched an internal investigation.

"Our primary aim was always to root out and take action against those involved and we publicly announced, including to media, both the investigation and the action we took as a result."

It added that it had undertaken an investigation and that Charity Commission had confirmed it had taken 'appropriate' action. 

The statement continued: "We know that, like us, our supporters will be distressed by what happened. We hope that they will be reassured by the steps we have taken."